The Conscious of Corruption
by Silent Unheard Child
Summary: He just wanted to be left in peace but she wouldn't let that happen. She wanted a friend but he'd been burnt before. Courtney, a misguided, energetic young woman and Duncan, a quiet loner who just wanted to escape his past. Could it be possible that this unlikely pair could get along? Personality swap. Rated M for course language, violence, mature themes & future sexual content.
1. Chapter 1: Encounter and Counter

The resonating slam of something against my desk startled me. I flicked my eyes towards the combat boots that were situated upon my desk and connected to those boots were a pair of long, long legs encased in taut fishnet. My gaze travelled further up past tight denim shorts, to the gory shirt and leather jacket and then a face. A sneering and taunting face. The female cocked her head to the side, long green bangs trailing over her shoulder and she pulled her lips up into a sadistic grin, the piercing from the lower lip gleaming wickedly in the light. Who was this girl? And most importantly why was she standing on my desk? Everyone else in the class was silent but yet you could still hear the hushed whispers of those daring few. I glared up at the young woman through my glasses but she did nothing but smirk back, those deep black eyes taunting me. The girl bent down, hands on her thick hips and bared her teeth at me with some sort of animal pride.

"MISS PRINCETON! GET DOWN FROM THAT TABLE RIGHT NOW!" my lecturer called from the front of the class. The Princeton girl turned her head towards the teacher and snarled viciously, the teacher looked stunned at the sudden primal act. The rest of the class broke out into whispers and murmurs and the girl growled before jumping down from the table which caused all my papers to scatter and drift down to the floor.

"OUTSIDE! NOW!" my lecturer commanded and the girl stalked predatorily out the door but not before flashing a smirk at me. Silently I rose from my desk and went about collecting up all my discarded and dirty sheets from the floor, all the while cursing that green haired girl. The teacher entered the room quickly and came over to me.

"Here, let me help you," she offered kindly as she went to place her hand upon my shoulder. I flinched away from her offending appendage.

"I'm fine" I muttered and continued to gather up my mountains of paper.

"Are you su-" the lecturer went to offer again.

"I said I am fine." I stressed while slightly glaring at her close proximity. She flinched away and stormed outside the classroom to fetch the green haired girl. The whispers and murmurs ran around the room and I wanted to do nothing more than to be swallowed up by the ground. First day of my transfer and I am already being victimised by some delinquent girl I don't even know. I wanted, no I needed a new start, where nobody knew me or even wanted to. That is what I wanted. But as soon as that girl re-entered the room with that predatory grin on her face I knew what I had wanted was not what I was going to get. As she walked past me she held my heated gaze and returned it with an equal fieriness. The lecture started up again and I buried my head into the contents of my dirtied sheets but I just couldn't concentrate. I could feel her stare on the back of my neck, it was like icy water was crawling and inching down my back. Though my insides felt like they were on fire, alight with a scorching flame that was turning me into charcoal, blackening my inners. Throughout the whole class that feeling never left me, the ever constant rush of blistering heat and an arctic chill. What was this girls' problem? Why me? What did I ever do to her?

Finally our lecturer dismissed us and I sigh in relief before hastily gathering up my belongings. Unexpectedly a piece of paper was placed on my desk and the flash of emerald green let me know exactly where it came from. Crumpling the folded paper in my hand I shoved it into the depths of satchel before storming out of class _. 'I did not need this kind of attention'_ I thought to myself as I made my way to my next class.

I had been able to focus much better in my next class without the constant weight of that she devils stare. I spooned another bite of left over pasta into my mouth, chewing slowly as I read from my psychology text book. Fortunately I already knew most of this from my previous course back at my old university, we had been much further ahead in the course it seemed. I was glad for the familiarity of syllabus, it was good to know I hadn't missed anything because of the sudden change. Changing universities during the middle the year was not something that happened very often and even when, it was certainly not recommended. My case was different...I had my reasons...I checked my checked my iphone for the time before hastily gathering up my belongings and heading to my afternoon classes.

Sighing, I threw my heavy satchel onto the passenger side of my car before slamming the door shut.

"You shouldn't treat such a nice car like that," a feminine voice interjected, causing me to jump. Turning around my expression of mild fear morphed into onto one of agitation. It was her. She leaned against a parking pole, watching me curiously as she sucked on a lollypop.

"What do you want?" I questioned, wanting to get this over and done with. What was this girls' problem, couldn't she leave me alone?

"What year?" she asked, ignoring my previous question. I rolled my eyes, walking around to the driver side of the car. I opened the door, sliding into the faded and frayed leather seat, hoping she'd give up. Unfortunately she followed me around, leaning against the car door as I failed to close it quick enough.

"What is your problem?" I growled. She eyed me sceptically, twirling the lollypop stick in her mouth and sucking on it rather suggestively. I paled, avoiding eye contact, why did that action bother me so much?

"Oh but of course. How could I not realise it! It's a 67 right?" she enthusiastically said, crunching down upon the candy in her mouth. I nodded, unable to do anything else. What the hell was going on here? "Oh how rude of me. I'm Courtney Princeton," she smiled proudly. I stared blankly at her.

"Duncan Evans," I murmured. she grinned triumphantly, holding out her fist expectedly, I raised my hand hesitantly, palm up-turned towards her. Courtney laughed, shrugging before lightly punching her fist into my hand.

"Nice to meet ya," she said happily before gently closing the door of my car. I watched her strut over to a shiny, black Harley Davidson. It couldn't be hers right? But I was proved wrong when she produced the keys. Courtney straddled the bike before throwing on a black helmet and looking back at me. She waved before turning the ignition causing the bike to growl to life. I weakly waved back as she pulled out of her packing spot, almost running into a reversing car, before speeding out onto the streets.

What just happened?

Finishing washing up, I placed the saucepan in the rack before shucking off the rubber gloves. Sighing, I walked over to my bed, running a hand over my face before pulling out books from my satchel. A small, crumpled square landed on my pillow, the one Courtney had thrown on my desk. Taking my glasses from their case, I put them on as I unfolded the paper, smoothing it out. A thick blush coloured my cheeks upon seeing the crude, black ink drawing. She wasn't an artist but it wasn't badly drawn either, but it got the message across. Scrunching it up, I threw it into my small, metal bin before shoving all my school stuff off my bed. I was now in no mood to do work.

Slinging my weighty satchel over my shoulder, I gently closed my car door, locking it manually before walking onto the footpath. The university was bustling with students, people from all walks of life scattered over the large campus greenery. A bolt of envy struck inside of me but I ignored it. I was happier here than I was back in my hometown. The university may have been better back there but there were too many memories attached to it now for me to have any fondness towards it. The only thing that kept me from leaving in behind completely was my father. Sighing, I shoved those dwelling thoughts back into the depths of my mind.

"Hey nerd!" a loud voice cried out to me and I blanched. Turning around I was confronted by Courtney, who was grinning ear to ear. "Morning," she said with a chipper tone to her voice.

"Um hi, ah morning," I sputtered out. Courtney circled me like I was prey, a predatory dance of seductive allure. I could see the other students regarding us, leaning over to whisper to each other. This wasn't good; I didn't want this kind of attention that this young woman brought with her. Obviously Miss Courtney Princeton had a bit of a reputation here, a reputation I didn't want to be a part of.

"What's up kiddo? You look paler than normal?" Courtney asked, getting too close for comfort. I stumbled back, tripping on the uneven pavement. I braced myself for impact but Courtney managed to grab my hand and yank me up, righting my balance before I even fell. She smirked at me, not letting go of my hand, I snatched it back harshly without even thinking. Staring blankly at me, she had certain sadness in her eyes, which surprised me, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"Thanks. But what do you want with me?" I questioned, running a hand through my haphazard coarse, black hair. Courtney cocked her hip, straightening her leather jacket before smiling brightly at me.

"You Duncan Evans, I want you to be my friend!" she declared loudly and I just blanched. She couldn't be serious could she? But the look of determination on her face confirmed my nightmare.

Friends with a female, because that went so well last time.

 _ **I'm back again with a new fanfic, hopefully I will finish this one. Well chapter one here, hopefully you guys enjoy and I will (hopefully) post the second chapter soon.**_


	2. Chapter 2: Disinterest and Interest

" _You Duncan Evans, I want you to be my friend!" she declared loudly and I just blanched. She couldn't be serious could she? But the look of determination on her face confirmed my nightmare._

I stood frozen, staring blankly at Courtney as she hovered closely, anticipation twinkling in her eyes. My mouth gaped open like a fish would when it's drawing in its final breath. _'This was a dream right?_ ' I thought a terrible, horrible nightmare that I so desperately wanted to awaken from. I pinched myself hard, biting my lip in pain I realised that this wasn't some sick dream my mind had conjured up, this was reality. Was I over reacting? Maybe...no, I wasn't. I was scared by the prospect of having a female friend again.

"If you don't say something, I'm going to take your silence as a yes," Courtney smiled, peering up at me through her long, thick black lashes. _'Too close,'_ I backed away quickly and she watched me with a puzzled expression. I had to calm down, she was just a girl. But that was why I wasn't calm. Straightening myself up I glanced around at the crowd of people who watched us curiously. Courtney finally noticed them to and gave a rather menacing stare, the people scattered immediately. _'If looks could kill,'_ I thought and then paled as she turned back to me, her features softening.

"Sooooo, what do you say hot shot. You and me, best of buddies," Courtney grinned, advancing on me. I held up my hands defensively.

"Stay right there," I pleaded, desperately almost. She looked at me, puzzled by my desperation. _'God I must seem so pathetic to her,'_ but thankfully she stopped her advanced and just stared.

"Look Courtney, you seem like a nice person but I'm not really interested in your proposal," I managed to spit out, a cold sweat already running down my spine. Courtneys' face fell; her green bangs covered her eyes as she stared down at her boots. I felt horrible but involving myself with anyone, especially a woman wasn't a good idea. Not after last time.

"Courtney I..." I started to say but she suddenly looked up.

"I'm going to make you eat those words Duncan Evans! I'm not giving up so easily. So prepare yourself," Courtney exclaimed, a black fire burning in her charcoal eyes. Immediately after her declaration, she turned on her heel, checked skirt lifting up as she did so before rushing towards campus. I stood there somewhat flustered and confused. What just happened?

 **###########################################################################**

I sat in my morning class, completely dazed, not absorbing a single word the teacher said. My mind felt like it was mush and all I could think about was how Courtney was going to persuade me. To be honest, I didn't understand why she would go to such efforts to be friends with me. She was a weird girl and she perplexed me. But deep down, in some twisted way, I was secretly happy...

Entering my next class, I made my way up to the back, hoping to avoid the attention of the other students. Unfortunately one of them recognised me and soon hushed whispers were running wild. I take it back, Courtney brought unwanted attention and I did not like it one bit. Speaking of the she devil, Courtney entered the room, eyes searching before the fell on me. She smiled widely before bounding up the stairs and sliding in beside me.

"Hey, never thought we'd end up in the same class. What are you majoring?" she asked, pulling out her books and some pens. I didn't want her next to me, in such close proximity too. But strangely I couldn't find the will to tell her to go away and leave me alone.

"Um I'm doing psychology," I murmured as our lecturer walked in the door.

"Law," Courtney stated proudly before opening her book. I was stunned; I wasn't expecting that, she must be secretly smart or something. She grinned at me before turning to face the front, sliding closer to me. I paled, wanting to back up but I was already against the wall. Courtney was so close that I could smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume and the strawberry scent coming from her slightly damp hair. I studied her closely, how her emerald bangs framed her slim face perfectly. The curvature of her nose, as if she'd broken it many years ago, those freckles that dusted her nose and cheeks and her sensual, pink lips. She turned to look at me, catching me staring and smiled seductively, something stirred within me.

"Pay attention," Courtney mouthed, gesturing to the front before smirking. I blushed furiously, adjusting my glasses on the bridge of my nose. This woman, I didn't understand her at all.

 **########################################################################**

I walked down the stairs with Courtney lurking beside me.

"Hey, changed your mind yet?" she asked, studying me with abundant curiosity. I shook my head, how could I have possibly had time to change my mind on the subject in only just a couple of hours? Plus she hadn't particularly tried to persuade me yet, very disappointing. Courtney swallowed deeply, nodding tensely before bounding in front of me.

"See you later Duncan!" she cried out, waving frantically before rushing away. It was like the woman was on a constant high. I laughed lightly before regaining my features as an unknown male approached me.

"You the guy that delinquent girl is after?" the random guy asked. I nodded in response as he motioned me over against the wall, out of the way of all the people. The young man looked me up and down, studying me critically; I squirmed under his dark gaze. I looked at him, noticing how the shade of his skin and hair was somewhat familiar.

"Look, you should stay away from Courtney, she's nothing but trouble. You look like you've got a good head on your shoulders and I'd hate for her to mess you up," he started up and I just stared at him vacantly. Who was he and why did he care? "You're not from around here so you wouldn't know the reputation that she's built up for herself. To simply put it she's a slut. Has not direction or purpose in life, girls a lost cause so don't even bother trying to help her," he continued. What the actual fuck was wrong with this guy? Seriously, coming up to me and bad mouthing Courtney like it was everyone's business. For some reason it bothered me.

"And how would you know? How does this affect you in any way?" I asked, glaring at him. He sniffed haughtily, looking down at me with his cold, dark eyes and I finally noticed the freckles dusting his nose. He suddenly grabbed my hand roughly and shook it once.

"Carter Princeton. It is a pleasure to meet you," Carter smiled tightly before breaking contact. Suddenly the skin, hair and freckles clicked in my mind, her brother of course. But that made it all that much worse. For him to speak about his sister this way was appalling and disgusting. "Let's hope we never have to see or speak to each other again," Carter stated, underlying threat there before turning to leave. I was left stunned and somewhat enraged.

 **#########################################################################**

"Hey want to go get some lunch together. I know this great place to eat," Courtney asked, dancing around me. She'd been following me all morning, working out my schedule and popping up randomly. She was persistent, I'd give her that.

"Nah, I have no afternoon classes, I'd thought I'd go home and have lunch," I replied, walking a little faster, hoping she'd get the idea. To be honest I was still reeling over the conversation with her brother earlier today.

"Oh! Me too! I don't have any more classes either. Well I actually only had that class with you this morning but I stuck around to hang out with you," Courtney explained. I sighed, stopping. She paused, turning to look back at me as she realised I wasn't following her anymore. "Hey, what's up kiddo?" she asked.

"Nothing Courtney, I just don't understand you," I said flatly, staring blankly at her.

"I'm a complex person, what can I say," she smiled brightly. I shook my head, she didn't understand anything.

"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep following me? Being a stalker doesn't make you my friend. Besides, you can't just demand me to be your friend, it doesn't work like that," I questioned and explained, hoping she'd get it. Courtney stared at me for a moment, before reaching into her bag and pulling out two lollypops. She walked over to me, slowly, as if she was trying not to frighten me. Courtney held her palm out with the two candies in her hand.

"Perhaps I'm a stalker but I like you. You're different from everyone else. You tell me to fuck off and you're not afraid to do so. Believe it or not I'm not as bad as everyone makes me out to be. I have my reasons for being the way I am," she stated, watching me with those soulful black eyes. In this moment Courtney reminded me of a sweet, innocent child who was baring her soul for me to see. Her brother was lying, she wasn't horrible and she surely wasn't a slut. Courtney just wanted people to understand the real her, accept her entirely.

"Courtney I understand this but why me?" I questioned nervously, I had no idea what to expect from her.

"You're interesting and I like that. Also you're new, so you don't have anyone else's opinion of me clouding your judgement. I realise that I can't just go around, demanding we becoming friends but I would really like it if you gave me a shot," Courtney smiled. "Friendship is when you give a person the best flavoured lollypop and save the worst for yourself. Even though you may hate that flavour it doesn't matter because you get to see that person happy and that's all that matters," she explained, handing me the better flavoured one. I stared at the small candy in my palm and suddenly I felt unexplainable warmth spread through my body. I looked up at Courtney who smiled gently at me, exposing her true nature to me. Placing my lollypop back in her hand, her smile fell but instead of leaving it at that I picked up the other flavour and unwrapped the plastic before popping it into my mouth. Her face lit up, fireworks exploding in her charcoal eyes.

"I like this flavour best anyways," I grinned before walked towards the car park. Courtney ran after me, beaming brightly.

It may not have seemed like much but it filled me with a foreign joy to see her like that. This was going to be hard for me, after all that had happened before I wasn't sure how I would cope with Courtney. But for her, I was willing to try.

I would ignore what her brother had said, so I pushed it back into the depths of my mind. I would decide for myself who the real Courtney was because to me she was interesting.

 **#########################################################################** __

 _ **Second chapter, hope you enjoy. You must excuse my lack of knowledge of university life, classes and what not. I've never been to one, so I'm just making it up as I go, so hopefully it's not too bad and you guys can follow along. Until next time.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Pasta and Noodles

Being friends with Courtney Princeton wasn't easy.

She was hyperactive, like she was constantly on a sugar high, annoying like an innocent child and unpredictable as the weather. But she was interesting and without realising it I was slowly accepting her. I flinched less when she was near and it only slightly bothered me when she touched me. This all had happened in a span of only a couple weeks, this forming of trust and that comfortable feeling I got whenever she was near. I didn't fully understand her yet, she was a complex creature but I was slowly beginning to peel back the layers of understanding. I found myself enjoying her company, even her annoying antics.

Courtneys' brother, Carter, had not approached me again, only watching us from a distance, quietly observing his sisters' actions. I didn't understand his apprehension and cruelty towards her, sure Courtney was a little irritating but she was good person at heart. She was not like how he described her at all. She was clearly driven to achieve her goals, intelligent way beyond her looks and I hadn't even seen her with another male besides myself. Courtney was a bit unorthodox but she was a great person, a good friend that I was beginning to have high respect for.

Most importantly, I did not fear her like I feared other women. At first she frightened me to my very core but now I was almost perfectly fine around her. But there is still that lingering fear and I suppressed best I can. I truly believed Courtney deserved much better than my pitiful excuse of friendship. But she seemed to like me so that was all that mattered really.

################################################################################

I wandered down the 3rd aisle, aimlessly searching for canned tomato soup but was without luck just as it had been with the first two. Pausing, I realised that there were signs above each aisle; I wanted to smack the stupidity out of myself. I use to work at a small supermarket like this once but to be fair my mind was a bit of a cluster-fluff. Heading down the 5th aisle I finally found the soup and grabbed some tomato paste while I was there.

' _I have to find a job..._ ' I thought off absently as I meandered into the pasta section. I paused, confronted with a peculiar sight. That couldn't be who I thought it was? But sure enough it was. Dressed in a mint green, short summer dress, combat boots and leather jacket was Courtney. A thick autumn brown braid slung loosely over her shoulder, rest of her hair, minus the braid and green bangs, hidden under her signature dark grey beanie. Her long, mocha legs peeked out from under the dress as she bit her lip piercing as she contemplated the items in her hands.

"Fancy seeing you here," I spoke up, striding up beside her. Courtney startled before looking up at me, surprise morphing into happiness almost immediately.

"Duncan!" she cried out, throwing her arms up in the air, packages slipping from her hands. The plastic wrapping crunched against linoleum floor and Courtney flushed bright red, quickly gathering up the items.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," I murmured but she smiled regardless.

"Nah, all good. I was just making really tough, life changing decisions." she declared before holding up the two crumpled packages. "Chicken or beef noodles. Big choice," Courtney grinned.

"Are you having that for dinner?" I asked, hoping it wasn't true. She nodded enthusiastically and I had to hide my disgust. "That stuff isn't all that great you know. Has way too much sodium and it doesn't taste all that good either," I said but her face remained impassive.

"Yeah well, I'll have you know I love food with high sodium content and heaps of nasty stuff," Courtney declared, poking her tongue out in a childish matter. I rolled my eyes and quickly snatched up the offending noodles and shoved them back on the shelf. "Hey! That's my dinner! Some of us have to eat you know," she cried out, reaching around me to get the packages back. I blocked her whilst managing to push her over to the pasta; girl was much stronger that she looked. I picked up a packet of pasta and placed it into my basket before grabbing Courtneys' wrist and leading her away. "What are you doing?" she asked, struggling playfully against me. I internally flinched after I realised I was touching her but I chose to grin and bear that slightly sickening feeling.

"I'm not letting any friend of mine eat that crap," I proclaimed.

"Well I can't cook anything but that!" Courtney mumbled.

"That's why I'm going to make you dinner silly," I smiled, letting go of her wrist as we made it to the check out. Courtney stopped, staring blankly at me momentarily before beaming brightly.

"Awesome! Yay! A proper meal at last. Let's go to my place," she suggested, hanging happily off my arm. I smiled lightly, flinching slightly as she sandwiched her large, supple breast around my arms. Swallowing deeply I placed the items at the register and suddenly Courtney perked up. Without a word she left the shop and I was forced to wait as the checkout lady slowly scanned my items.

Walking outside I looked around for Courtney until I caught sight of her leaning on the bonnet of my chair, holding a brown paper bag that in the conspicuous shape of a large bottle.

"Well we can't have a dinner date without booze," she proclaimed mischievously and my pulse sky rocketed. Laughing she danced around to the passenger side as she waited for me to unlock the car. I shook my head before walking over to my car.

###############################################################################

"I can't believe you didn't ride over to the shops. It's dark Courtney, you could've got kidnapped or something," I chided her but she ignored my words of wisdom, running up the stairs ahead of me.

"Oh come on Duncan, it's like five minutes away. Plus I'm like a black belt so I can handle anyone who comes my way," she reasoned, unlocking the front door of her apartment.

"That's not the point..." I murmured, following her inside. I almost dropped my shopping bag when she flicked on the light. I'd been too busy chiding her on the way over here to notice where exactly we were. Her apartment was spacious and lavishly furnished. I stood in awe, taking in the room. It had been a while since I'd been in a place like this. There was a leather couch with matching armchairs that surrounded a massive plasma screen TV. The longue room lead into the dining room with mahogany table and chairs and then there was the kitchen which was perfectly white and extremely large. A small flight of stairs seemed to lead up to the upstairs area where I could see a bedroom and bathroom door.

"What's up?" Courtney asked, suddenly appearing in front of me.

"Wow... this place is just wow. How can you afford the rent here?" I stuttered, momentarily forgetting my manners. Her features darkened as she placed her keys in a glass bowl, on a desk, at the front door.

"I can't. My parents paid for it. All the rent, bills and whatever will be paid for until I leave uni. I just have to cover my living expenses such as school stuff and food," Courtney explained before taking the shopping bags from me. "Now come on, enough about my boring life. Let's get cooking, I'm starving," she exclaimed, walking into the kitchen. I followed silently, watching as she placed the brown paper bagged bottle into the fridge. The kitchen was spotless, it was evident that she didn't spend too much time in here.

"Do you normally eat two minute noodles every night?" I asked as I started to remove the shopping from the plastic bags.

"Ha-ha, no I don't. I normally have dinner at work, I mainly work nights there," Courtney said.

"You work? Why?" I asked, to be honest I was kind of surprised that she worked when her parents clearly had the money for her to not. She looked over at me as she took a pot out of the cupboard, features rather grim.

"The bar and grill place on main street. Just because my parents are wealthy doesn't mean I like them supporting me. I'd like to pay my own rent and pay my own bills and live in my own apartment but that's just not how things work in my family. My brothers live and lived at the house with my parents, never worked, they had everything they wanted given to them on a silver platter. I just don't work that way, I like to do things myself but my parents insisted on paying my way through uni so I compromised. To be honest they really just couldn't stand me being in the house for another year," Courtney said whilst she filled the pot with water. I was stunned, I didn't expect her family life to be quite like this.

"Courtney...I..." I started to say but she cut me off.

"But nothing. Let's get cooking. I'm starving!" she cried. Sighing, I decided to let it go this time, not wanting to pry too deep into her personal life.

#############################################################################

"I can't believe a girl of twenty one doesn't even know how to boil pasta. Seriously Courtney that's sad," I laughed, pouring the pasta into the bubbling water.

"Well not all of us had parents who cooked," she grumbled, cheeks a flaming red. "Any who why are you cooking that much? That's way too much for the both of us. Did you invite some friends I didn't know about," she teased and I just rolled my eyes.

"No, no secret friends here. So you can have leftovers for a couple days," I stated. Courtney fiddled with her green bangs, the blush growing deeper. She kind of looked cute and my heart did this weird clenching thing.

"Ahhh thanks Duncan, I really appreciate it," she said and I nodded stiffly. It became suddenly awkward and I could hear the blood rushing through my ears. Stirring the mince sauce, I removed the spoon and swiping my finger across, tasting it.

"That's ready and the pasta will be done in a minute or so. Did you wanna grab some bowls out or something?" I asked and Courtney nodded. She grabbed some rather nice looking bowls, cutlery and wine glasses out before setting the table for two. Straining the pasta, I added it to the sauce, mixing it well before heading into the dining room. Courtney ducked into the kitchen whilst I served up the pasta. She returned with a bottle red wine, expensive by the looks of things. Pouring us both a glass we sat down, Courtney looked up at me expectantly.

"You want me to say grace or something?" I asked, she shook her head. "Well dig in," I smiled, twirling some pasta on my fork. Courtney did the same, eyes widening as she chewed.

"Oh my gosh! This is amazing and it's just pasta. You're a pasta master!" Courtney declared before shovelling more food into her mouth.

"It's just some herbs and spices, nothing major," I mumbled, slightly embarrassed. Taking a long sip of my wine Courtney watched me closely. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't pick you as the person to drink that's all," she stated.

"Um yeah. I don't drink often because I can't afford it but I do like to," I explained.

"Don't you have a job?"

"I use to. A couple actually, but that was back in my hometown. I've been looking for one but it hasn't been turning out so great," I confessed and Courtney looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Oh! You can cook more than pasta right?" she asked and I nodded. "Well that's kind of perfect. One of our chefs just left work and they are looking for a replacement. So if you're interested I could talk to the boss," Courtney offered.

"That would be great actually. I really appreciate it Courtney," I smiled. I was kind of touched that she'd think about me.

"No problem, it's the least I can do," she mumbled before going back to eating

##############################################################################

"I'll see you tomorrow then I guess," I said awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. Dinner had gone over well and we'd chatted for a little bit but to be honest I wasn't much of a conversationalist.

"Yeah. You sure you haven't had too much to drink? You stay the night if you want. The couch is rather comfortable," Courtney asked. Images of her in lacy lingerie, straddling me on the couch flashed through my mind. I flushed at the thought, wondering why my mind went there.

"No, no I'm ok. See you later," I excused myself in a fluster before shutting the door behind me. I rushed down the stairs of her apartment building, got in my car and sped away.

When I finally lay down to sleep my cheeks were hot to touch and for some weird reason the thought of what would have happened if I stayed kept running through my mind...

############################################################################## Mmm I know things are boring at the moment but hopefully things should pick up from here.


End file.
